Roberts chapter 8. Some of you may recall that last week, this Sunday evening, when we looked at Revelation chapter 12, that I mentioned to you that last Sunday evening's message and this Sunday evening message were somewhat related. I actually gave the two of them as messages or consecutive messages at our Bible camp in the OPC. And the first message was be devoted or be irrelevant. That is to say we're either going to take seriously our Christian faith, we're either going to live like we really believe what the Bible says, or what we're doing really marginalizes our witness, our life, our presence in the world and in the church. And if we're not just marginalized in the sense that we aren't doing all that we could, but we, in effect, in terms of those whom Satan would oppose, those whom the enemies of our Lord and Savior would dislike, are those that are really living and striving to be obedient to the Word and the will of God. And so we are to be devoted, or we are irrelevant, to the Kingdom and the forward progress of the Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just to remind you of the verse, the devil was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her offspring. And then it describes who are the offspring of the church. To those who keep the commandments of God, those who do the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ. In other words, those who have faith in the Scriptures and the Word of God and those who live their lives in obedience to it. Well, the second part of all this is tied together, I think, as we look back now to Proverbs chapter 8, the last few verses of the chapter, in that the temperatures turned up just a little bit. We are called to be devoted or die. We, as the sermon title says, we will either live with wisdom or we will die with folly. And that really is the only two possibilities. We are either building our lives, as Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with, on the rock, doing what he says, living according to his will, or we're actually building our lives, basing our lives on the sand, the sifting sand that will not hold up the structure unto eternity and will not endure the troubles and the trials of life. So let's begin. Proverbs chapter 8. We're actually going to focus on the last five verses, 32 through 36. Let's begin at verse 1. Does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors, saying, To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things. For my mouth will speak truth. Wickedness and abomination is an abomination to my lips, All the words of my mouth are with righteousness. Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction and not silver. And knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way. The perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me, kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles, all the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love Me to inherit well, that I may fill their treasuries. The Lord possessed Me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When there were no deaths, I was brought forth. when there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were saddled, before the hills I was brought forth, while as yet He had not made the earth or the fields or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there. When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command when He marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men. Now, therefore, listen to Me, My children, for blessed are those who keep My way. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at My gate, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoever finds Me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who stands against Me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate Me Love death. I would encourage you as we consider this passage in the Word of God to keep your Bibles open as we consider these things. Proverbs 8, at least in some of our Bibles, carries the inscription, the excellence of wisdom. The whole chapter is wonderful, but about midway through, verse 22, We have wisdom speaking of her origin, of her relationship to the Father and to the creation of the heavens and the earth. And I think it's pretty clear that wisdom is the personification of the pre-incarnate Christ. That is to say, before Christ was incarnate, He was busy, He was active, He was at work in the world. And I think what we read in these verses here is really Christ speaking about Himself in His preexistent form in the Old Testament revealed to us the mind of the Lord. I don't think it's a mistake. If you look down, you know, we know in John 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and nothing that was made was made without Him. And so He was the One through whom God created the heavens and the earth. And that's what we read. Look at verse 25. Before the mountains were saddled, before the hills, I was brought forth. While as yet He had not made the earth and the world, or the primeval dust. When He prepared the heavens, I was there. When He drew a circle on the face of the deep. And so on and so on. And then you think of His work as the mediator. What did Christ do but come to lay His life down on behalf of His people? Now, who better to do that? Look at verse 31. I'll start at verse 30. Then I was beside him as a master craftsman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in his inhabited world. And my delight was where? And my delight was with the sons of men. I mean, who better to be the Messiah? Who better to be the One who would come to lay down His life than the One from the very foundations of the earth had felt that particular affinity and desire? And that's what it says. My delight was in the sons of men. And so we have in Christ that willing self-sacrifice, that willingness to lay down His life in our place and for our salvation. And that fits just right in with what we read here. But our interest is chiefly those last five verses. Now, therefore, listen to me, my children. So we have an admonition that we are given, and it becomes our duty to heed that which is written and that which is spoken. The one speaking to us is clearly the personification of wisdom. It certainly is the Spirit, the mind of God that is revealed. And it exhorts us, now therefore, listen to me. Verse 33, hear instruction and be wise. Do not disdain it. And so the Scriptures come to us admonishing us, urging us, telling us to do the very things that are revealed and are spoken to us. And who are the ones who receive the admonition? Well, it says, my children. Those who hear. Those who believe. Those who are a part of God's people. You are to listen. You are to understand what is the will of the Lord. And so we might certainly say, It's addressed to God's covenant people. I think in a particular way it's addressed to us and to our children. My children listen to me. And I think this passage is especially helpful to those who might be growing just a bit tired of the same old. They might be growing tired of hearing and being admonished and preached to. Those who have grown weary of the Christian faith and our duty before the Lord. Maybe you feel like you're just going through the motions of life. You're just doing what you're doing because you have to do it. Well, this is the freshness of the Word of God. It comes to each one of us. It admonishes us and tells us that we need to hear. We need to understand. We need to act upon the revealed will of the living God. First verse, three imperative statements. Now therefore, listen to me, my children. For blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction. Be wise. Negatively, do not disdain it. In the Bible, there's an interesting parallel or contrast by the words glory and curse. The word glory literally translated means heavy and weighty. The word for cursing literally means to be light, to count as unimportant. And so when we are hearing wisdom, when we are being admonished to hear and understand, to be wise and not to disdain it, We are being told to count the Word of God as a weighty thing that we must carry and count as important. Because if we hear or know the right and the truth, and don't do it, what have we just done? We've just taken it as a light, an unimportant thing. And it is in fact, in terms of our responding to revelation, our responding to God, Almost the same as cursing. We are considering it as an unimportant thing. Hear Me, My children. Listen to Me. I think the King James there says, Give ear. Pay attention. For blessed are those who keep My ways. Hear instruction and be wise. And do not disdain it. There's a proverb that says something to the effect, buy the truth and sell it not. Above all things, get wisdom. Lay hold of it. If you can hear and know the truth, receive it and believe it and hold to it. Well, the way in which we are to do this is to be sure that our conduct is in accordance to what God has spoken. That's why I added to our Scripture readings this evening that passage from 2 Peter 1. You know, we are to add to faith, virtue. To virtue, self-control. To self-control, knowledge. To knowledge, patience and perseverance and love. And if we do that, If we are putting effort and work into our Christian faith, the benefit is that we will not be unfruitful in our conduct, in our lives before the Lord. But if, as we're caring about the Christian faith, we're not seeking, we're not putting effort into growing and maturing in Christ, The Apostle Peter says that we are short-sighted even to blindness. We haven't really captured or grasped that which the Lord has willed and has spoken and why He said it. Why would Peter say this is so important for us? I think the answer there is that we all know how easy it is to coast. We all know how easy it is to put any effort into our Christian faith on the back burner. We have all kinds of time for those things that waste time. Maybe we really spend a lot of time in front of our television. Maybe we spend a lot of time reading this book and that book and just never seem to find time. to open the Word of God or to read any devotional-type book in our day-to-day lives. What gives? Well, I think sometimes it's really just the Christian faith in real life. If we didn't have to have admonitions, if we didn't have to be reminded and admonished to do these things, these words wouldn't be here. But the truth is the Scriptures know us better than we know ourselves. The Scriptures recognize our weaknesses. In fact, almost every passage you read in the Bible, when it's telling you to do something, it's because naturally what? Because naturally we don't do it. When the Scriptures come to us and admonish us not to do something, why is that? Almost always it's because those things are easy to do. Just read through the Apostle Paul's letters. The pastoral epistles especially come to mind. How many times we're told to be sober, to be serious, to be ready, to be watchful, to be earnest. Why? Because we're often not. You know, it's as easy for me as it is for anybody to get in a comfortable chair, to put my feet up, and there goes the whole evening. It's not that relaxation is bad. But when that sort of relaxation hinders us in our Christian walk, or we don't get to the things that matter more, well, we've gone from being wise and understanding to being somewhat foolish. And of course, that's the very point. So the way to take heed is to hold fast to the admonitions. Look at verse 34. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. First sentence makes pretty good sense, doesn't it? The first phrase there? Blessed is the man who listens to Me. But how do we daily watch at His gates and wait at the post of My doors? How do we do that? I would suggest to you that the way that happens is by our meeting with the Lord. By our spending time in the Word. By our spending time If we're under 70 on our knees before God, what happens when we pray? When we're praying rightly, we're bowing down before God. We are seeing ourselves as we are unworthy, undeserving servants. We are bowed down before God the Almighty, who is worthy of all praise and honor and glory. And we're paying Him that respect. And we are seeing the world and all those around us in the right perspective. That they are either our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, or they are outside of the Kingdom of God. Everything becomes clear when we are on our knees before God. And I think that's a part of what we have here. Blessed is the man who listens to me watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. Hold your finger there and turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy 6 is where the greatest commandment is found in verse 4. Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Well, in the following verses, the gates of my gates and the posts of my doors are referred to. And I think this is actually the answer. Look down to verse 6. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, When you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Now, verse 9. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So where do we find the Word of God? But on the doorposts of our house and on our gates, and here we're told in Proverbs 8, 34, blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. So clearly it's a reference to the Word of God, where we have it written, where we have it recorded. where we are reminding ourselves of what is our responsibility and duty to live before God. And so yeah, I suppose that this is just another admonition to each of us, isn't it? To be sure that we are reading the Scriptures. To be sure that we are making that effort. And my presumption here is if it's easy for me to miss that That quiet time. That devotional period that I spend personally with God. It's probably just as easy for you. And so the admonition comes to us all to meet with God. To watch at His gates and to wait at His posts. Look at verse 35. What a wonderful promise. For whoever finds Me finds life. Whoever finds Me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. Psalm 34 says that the Lord's ears are open to the cries of His people. He is attentive to their words. But to those who harden their heart, to those who turn aside, to those who will not follow after His will, He says, How all this fits together I think becomes pretty clear. We are obliged. We have the duty to look for God. And when we find Him, we find His will. We receive His favor. And that's where those first verses that we read in Proverbs 8 are so clear. Receive My instruction and not silver. Verse 10. And knowledge rather than choice silver. For wisdom, wisdom is better than rubies. Just think about this. All the things one may desire. Is it wealth? Is it a house? Is it a home? Is it some car? Some possession? Is it something out there? All the things one may desire. cannot be compared with her. Find wisdom. This is just so clear everywhere in Scripture. Think of Hebrews 11. Those who come to God must what? They must believe that He is and what? And that He is a rewarder of those who what? of those who diligently seek Him. How dare we not diligently seek God? How dare we think of not following His admonitions and receive the instructions that He gave? You know, we speak somewhat cavalierly that, well, it's like a map that leads us to heaven. Well, that's a reality too. How do you know God? How do you know His will? Do we just get it by osmosis? I don't think so. Can we, like the college student, put their textbook under their pillow? Is that going to help? Absolutely not. The Word of God is a light. The Word of God is a lamp. When it's open, when it's being read, when its admonitions are being heeded, And if we are to understand, if we yet might doubt how important it is, and you children too, as we grow and as we mature, we need to be sure that our minds are being taught and trained and checked in the manner in which we should go. Wonderful promises. Whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But it doesn't stop there. It concludes with a fearful, with a fearful warning. But he who sins against Me wrongs his own soul. How do we sin against wisdom? This is it right here. We plug our ears. We harden our hearts. We don't do what we know we ought to do. But he who sins against Me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate Me love death. Think about that. Who are those who hate wisdom? You know, it's like Ahab said to Jehoshaphat when Ahab's prophets are urging him to go up against Ramoth Gilead. And Jehoshaphat says, well, is there no prophet of the Lord? Is there no prophet of the Lord here? And Ahab says, well, there is one, Micaiah, but I hate him. But I hate Him. And Jehoshaphat should have taken clue from this already. But he says, let my Lord not say so. You can read about that in 2 Chronicles 16. He who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death. So I guess the question becomes, do you want Verse 35, to be spoken about you and your life and your response to wisdom? Or do you want verse 36 to be spoken about you and your heart and your response to wisdom? Whoever finds me finds life. Whoever sins against me wrongs his own soul. a practice that I began just a couple of years ago. And this is a tradition passed down from father to daughter and now to... I learned it from them. I don't know if any of you have heard of Nancy Lee DeMoss. She has a women's ministry on the radio. She's used by God, I think, in many ways. Anyway, she said her father made a practice of reading a chapter of Proverbs every day of the month. If today is the 26th, the chapter of Psalms that he would be reading on that day is Proverbs 26. And each day there's 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. And is it coincidence? Is it something we ought to do? I don't know. I've done it for now a couple of years, and I would say it has been as big a blessing to me as any practice or ritual that I have made a part of my day-to-day life. I'm not saying to read Proverbs at the expense of other scriptures, but if you're wondering what to read today, just look at the date and read that chapter, and I trust it will also be a blessing to you. Will we live with wisdom, or will we Die with folly. How we respond to the Word of God today, this week, next week, last week, has everything to do with whether it will be a blessing to us, whether we're going to hear the Word of God with profit, or whether we will hear it of no effect and of no consequence. May the Lord be pleased to impress these words and this truth upon our hearts. Amen.